NCANA’s Executive Director Builds Own Branded Mobile Event App – And Year Round Member App – In Just Days, With No Coding Experience
The North Carolina Association of Nurse Anesthetists (NCANA) represents more than 3,100 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) and students, and hosts 300 members and guests each year for its Annual Meeting. NCANA’s executive director used the MobileUp platform to create a mobile app for the Annual Meeting that simplified attendee communications, eliminated paper documents, and kept meeting-wide notifications flowing to encourage participation, provide a better meeting experience – and pull off another productive and memorable meeting.
“I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and fast it was to build a great-looking app in such a short amount of time, and with zero IT or technical resources.”
Caitlin Schwab-Falzone
NCANA Executive Director
Challenge: Build A Branded Mobile App, With One Staffer, And a Short Lead Time
Caitlin Schwab-Falzone was in a tight spot as the newly appointed Executive Director of NCANA. The association’s flagship Annual Meeting was approaching, the Board of Directors wanted to debut a new mobile app for this event, and the person who’d selected the MobileUp platform had just left the organization.
“I had to learn the MobileUp platform, brand and build a new app for our association, and get our information loaded, tested and ready for our members,” Schwab-Falzone said. “And I had zero experience coding, designing, or doing anything like this before. I was naturally concerned about getting it all done.”
Solution: Rising to the Challenge With the MobileUp No Code Platform – And World-Class Customer Success Team
Schwab-Falzone took on her role as Executive Director of NCANA as part of her senior account management responsibilities at Capitol Hill Management Services, an association management firm that provides strategic development, meeting management, and financial advisory services for over 50 associations on the East Coast. As she was getting up to speed on her new assignment, she received a call from MobileUp’s customer success team.
“The customer success team at MobileUp couldn’t have been more helpful or better-timed,” Schwab-Falzone said. “We set up a walk-through, they showed me the basics, and I was ready to start building our app on my own.”
With the Annual Meeting quickly approaching, Schwab-Falzone used MobileUp’s intuitive layout, design, and content builder to create the main sections of the event app highlighting the Agenda, Speakers, Sponsors, Exhibitors, Venues, and Resources/FAQs.
“I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and fast it was to build a great-looking app in such a short amount of time, and with zero IT or technical resources,” Schwab-Falzone said. “The MobileUp customer success team was wonderful, too, they demonstrated the module building tools, helped me load attendees, and gave me all the support I needed to test it, proof it, and make sure it was ready for members and attendees.”
Integrations with NCANA’s association management system, MemberClicks, made it easy to import member information for access, login IDs and passwords.
“Getting attendees loaded into the MobileUp platform took me less than 10 minutes and setting up meeting notifications was about the same,” Schwab-Falzone said. “With the MemberClicks integration the steps were clear, everything was mapped, and it was much easier than other event apps that I’d worked with in the past.”
To encourage app downloads, no paper meeting materials were available on-site during the Annual Meeting. Schwab-Falzone also created 10-15 automated app notifications for each day, highlighting sessions, networking opportunities, breaks, and meal locations.
Results: Successful Annual Meeting Experience Leads to Expanded App Modules, Events – And Member Satisfaction
Schwab-Falzone was pleased with the adoption rate during the Annual Meeting considering the limited time they had to build awareness and promote usage.
Half of the 300 attendees chose to download the app, and another 400 plus members have downloaded it since the meeting to gain access to new and expanded modules including Job Boards, Groups, and another important annual event known as Capitol Day, where members meet with members of Congress on advocacy and industry-related issues.
“For Capitol Day, we were able to upload schedules, briefings, and talking points in the mobile app for our 50 attendees and use mobile notifications to keep everyone on track and informed throughout the day,” Schwab-Falzone said. “It made coordination and communication much easier for us as organizers, and it made the day more productive for our members on Capitol Hill.”
The Groups section of the mobile app has become popular among members as well, with key groups created for students, Chief CRNAs, advocacy, and board members. Group updates and meeting minutes are available, as are schedules, member directories, and registration links for upcoming events and continuing education.
Schwab-Falzone said the ease and productivity of the app has exceeded her expectations, and most importantly, the expectations of the board and members. The success has her looking for more ways to use the app, and she doesn’t hesitate to recommend it to her colleagues at Capitol Hill Management Services.
“MobileUp is very easy, extremely affordable, and our members are really enjoying the convenience of having a mobile app,” Schwab-Falzone said. “And when other association account managers at Capitol Hill ask me what to do for a mobile app, I recommend MobileUp wholeheartedly.”
